Cattaraugus County, New York

Cattaraugus County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Little Valley
Year Organized: 1808
Square Miles: 1,310

Court House:

303 Court Street
County Courthouse
Little Valley, NY 14755-1028

Etymology - Origin of County Name

from a Seneca Indian word meaning "bad smelling banks," referring to the odor of natural gas leaking from rock seams

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History

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Cattaraugus County is in the southwest part of New York State. Eric County bounds it on the north, Allegany to the east, Chautauqua to the west, and the counties of McKean and Warren in Pennsylvania are on the south. Cattaraugus County was formed from Genesee County on March 11, 1808, but the county did not have a Board of Supervisors and the courts until 1817 when the county had the required 500 voters to elect a member for the New York State Assembly. More Facts

Geography

Cattaraugus County is in the southwestern part of the state, immediately north of the Pennsylvania border. The southern part of Cattaraugus County is the only area of western New York that was not covered by the last ice age glaciation and is noticeably more rugged than neighboring areas that had peaks rounded and valleys filled by the glacier. The entire area is actually a dissected plateau of Pennsylvanian and Mississippian age, but appears mountainous to the casual observer. The plateau is an extension of the Allegany Plateau from nearby Pennsylvania. Southern Cattaraugus County is part of the same oil field, and petroleum was formerly a resource of the area. It is now mostly played out, but natural gas continues to be extracted.

A continental divide between the Mississippi River and Great Lakes watersheds runs through Cattaraugus County

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,322 square miles (3,425 km²), of which, 1,310 square miles (3,392 km²) of it is land and 12 square miles (32 km²) of it (0.94%) is water.

The northern border of the county is formed by Cattaraugus Creek.

Neighboring Counties:

Erie County, New York - north
Wyoming County, New York - northeast
Allegany County, New York - east
McKean County, Pennsylvania - southeast
Warren County, Pennsylvania - southwest
Chautauqua County, New York - west

Cities and Towns:

- Allegany	village	Incorporated Area
- Allegany Reservation	Reservation
- Ashford	town
- Carrollton	town
- Cattaraugus	village	Incorporated Area
- Cattaraugus Reservation	Reservation
- Coldspring	town
- Conewango	town
- Dayton	town
- Delevan	village	Incorporated Area
- East Otto	town
- East Randolph	village	Incorporated Area
- Ellicottville	village	Incorporated Area
- Farmersville	town
- Franklinville	village	Incorporated Area
- Freedom	town
- Gowanda	village	Incorporated Area
- Great Valley	town
- Hinsdale	town
- Humphrey	town
- Ischua	town
- Leon	town
- Limestone	village	Incorporated Area
- Little Valley (County Seat)	village	Incorporated Area
- Lyndon	town
- Machias	town
- Mansfield	town
- Napoli	town
- New Albion	town
- Oil Springs Reservation	Reservation
- Olean	city	Incorporated Area
- Otto	town
- Perrysburg	village	Incorporated Area
- Persia	town
- Portville	village	Incorporated Area
- Randolph	village	Incorporated Area
- Red House	town
- Salamanca	city	Incorporated Area
- South Dayton	village	Incorporated Area
- South Valley	town
- Yorkshire	town

County Resources:

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County Resource Guide

Counties: US Map

The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of our country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."

Penn Foster High School

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